(copyright) Copyright. 2000. Pavestone Co. All of the material in this patent application is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. As of the first effective filing date of the present application, this material is protected as unpublished material.
However, permission to copy this material is hereby granted to the extent that the owner of the copyright rights has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent document or patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention generally relates to the decorative edging, particularly joints and design features used for dry cast, compacted concrete landscape edging and the multipurpose utilization of the unit in landscape design.
Garden and landscape design is a huge industry in the United States and throughout the world. A major challenge of garden and landscape design is the use and placement of edging and other materials used to edge gardens or planting areas. Over the past few centuries, rocks, bricks, metal edging (e.g., steel and aluminum), railroad ties, and lumber have been used to edge a garden or planting area and to prevent soil erosion. Generally, these traditional edging structures do not naturally interlock with one another and, therefore, are usually labor intensive and require high maintenance. For instance, if rocks or bricks are used, a mason and mortar are needed to fill in the gaps between the rocks or bricks and to secure the individual bricks or stones together. Similarly, if railroad ties or lumber are used, a craftsman is needed to cut, place, and nail individual pieces together. These traditional edging structures are also fairly limited in a design sense, in that they do not permit the easy creation of curved beds and are much less flexible, in that they often move when the underlying soil shifts. Finally, many of these traditional edging structures are not modular and do not otherwise interlock together. And, if the traditional edging units do join together, they are not equipped to lock specific modular units in definite or proper alignment and otherwise permit individual, modular units to be turned left or right to change direction of the resulting edge configuration.
There are other disadvantages of existing edging structures as well.
A precast, concrete landscape edging module comprises a block body, a first, bidirectional interlocking joint; and a second, bidirectional, interlocking joint. The block body preferably has a first outer surface and a second outer surface and a first end surface extending from the first surface to the second surface and a second end extending from the first surface to the second surface. A first bidirectional, interlocking first joint is preferably disposed on the first end surface and a second bidirectional, interlocking joint is preferably disposed on the second end surface. The first bidirectional, interlocking joint is adapted to interlock with the second bidirectional, interlocking joint to prevent slippage and to enable rotation of the block body, if physically able to do so. In preferred applications, however, the first bidirectional, interlocking joint of one such module is actually adapted to interlock with a second bidirectional, interlocking joint of a second module, which is similar to the second bidirectional, interlocking joint of the first module, in order to form a chain or edge comprised of such modules. The first bidirectional, interlocking joint has a first sawtooth and a first recess positioned adjacent to and joining the first sawtooth, such as by a continuous, planar surface that extends from the peak of the first sawtooth to the valley of the recess. The first recess is designed to receive a second sawtooth with a shape and dimensions comparable to the first sawtooth, which provides, in part, the reciprocal and flexible nature of the preferred joints. Likewise, the second bidirectional, interlocking has the second sawtooth and a second recess positioned adjacent to and joining the second sawtooth, such as by a continuous, planar surface. Once again, for the same reasons, the second recess is designed to receive a sawtooth with a shape and dimensions comparable to the first sawtooth. The first bidirectional, interlocking joint also preferably has a first flat surface extending from said first outer surface of the block body to a first sawtooth and a second flat surface extending from a second outer surface of the block body to a first recess. Similarly, the second bidirectional, interlocking joint also has a third surface extending from the outer surface of the block body to the second recess and a fourth surface extending from the second outer surface of the block body to the second sawtooth. These straight edges conceal the inner workings of the joints (e.g., the jagged nature of the edge) and help secure the modules in position.
Preferred embodiments have a number of advantages. In particular, preferred embodiments of the individual landscape blocks or units are visibly attractive as well as tremendously flexible, which is important for professional landscape designers and home gardeners alike. The bidirectional and interlocking nature of the preferred embodiments of the individual blocks or units permitted by the novel, joint design enables the overall, completed edging to assume a varying number of configurations with various shapes, including any number of circular or serpentine shapes or straight edges, as well as various sizes. In fact, curved units can be combined with straight sections. The prefabricated nature of the preferred embodiments do not require additional construction or masonry at the working site, which thereby simplifies the on-site construction, and are relatively easy to manufacture via the use of molds. The use of rigid, solid materials, such as precast concrete in preferred embodiments enables the resulting assembly to retain soil and to prevent erosion as well as to retain its shape, which thereby reduces the required maintenance. Likewise, the use of modular units with flexible, interlocking joints, enables the resulting assembly to conform to the ground surface over time, as the soil may shift, and to conform to the particular area to be edged. In addition, preferred embodiments are decorative and ecologically friendly.
Additional advantages may become apparent upon review of the detailed description and corresponding drawings.